In Between the Lines
by Intentus Full Metallum
Summary: After finishing the last episode, Anna McKraken finds herself flung into the world of FullMetal Alchemist Brotherhood. Can she keep her identity a secret?  Will she affect the timeline?  OC Rated T for Ed and Anna's fluent toungues in swearing. CANON PAIR
1. Breaking the Ice

**Intentus: Well. I am now sharing this account with my sister. She's the one who wrote this. She writes pretty well actually.**

**Metallum: Thank you! Anyway, Anna probably seems like a Sue here, due to lack of insipration. You're probably wondering what this is about.**

**This is about a girl from our world who has seen the Brotherhood series and is flung into it. She has to keep her identity a secret while not affecting the timeline of events. (too badly.) And learn the Amestrian language along the way. She won't be with Ed and Al all the time, as this is NOT an ElricxOC fic. 'Cause I hate those.**

Chapter 1: Breaking the Ice

Summer was falling hard onto the Midwestern town of Fremont Nebraska. The heat had not relented in weeks and storms hurtled through the entire state during the night. Most were inside with ceiling fans running, windows thrown open, or sipping lemonade in an attempt to cool sweat covered bodies.

Except for a one Anna McKraken.

Anna was sitting dutifully at her computer, staring rapt at the cartoon flashing across the monitor. Said cartoon was the popular Japanese anime, FullMetal Alchemist. The second, (more popular,) series, Brotherhood, that is. She was on the last episode.

As she neared the end of the episode, Anna was on the verge of tears. The ending was the so happy it's sad kind, and the Elric brothers definitely deserved it. In her opinion, it was so perfect that it deserved the tears of President Obama himself. After all, it marked the end of a legacy.

After another minute or so, her tears spilled over. Anna had always had a soft heart and the happy ending that was very much deserved touched that heart. _Softie, _she thought.

As the final scenes scrolled across the screen and "fin" marked the end, she stood. Anna tried in vain to wipe away the tears in her eyes as she stumbled blindly across the room. When she opened them again, she realized something was wrong, as it seemed like Anna was gazing through a tube. She tried to stay standing by grabbing her bag of toiletries which doubled as miscellaneous packing. Her family had been planning a vacation to Germany. Eventually though, her mind gave into the pressure and darkness enveloped her vision.

Anna McKraken, thirteen years old and perfectly healthy, had slipped into a coma.

* * *

><p>Anna opened her increasingly heavy eyelids to discover something strange.<p>

First of all, she was lying face down in an alley. Not normal, or healthy for that matter.

Second, said alley looked more like a painting than an actual alley. Not quite defined.

And lastly, for some odd reason, her toiletry bag was lying next to her. _Why would she need shampoo?_

"God, what the hell happened?" She asked no one in particular. Her head felt like it had been split in two, and the fact she had somehow managed to land on a bad sunburn she had received at the pool wasn't helping. Sitting up, she immediately felt like lying down again. _Some headache, _she thought.

Anna stood up slowly, afraid her knees would give way. Unsteadily, she picked up her bag, and leaned gently against the wall, willing the headache that was surely a concussion away. It complied reluctantly, ebbing away into a small ache. Anna then set about figuring where she was and more importantly, how to get home. However, before she could get her bearings, several _(anime characters?)_ MP's appeared at the entrance to the alley and pointed her pistols at her. Instinctively, she put her hands in the air.

"Verschwinde von hier! Es ist nicht sicher für Zivilisten!*_" _One shouted something unintelligible to her ears. She gave him a confused look, and after a moment of thought realized what he said sounded suspiciously like German. However, the accent somehow reminded her of Japanese.

"Man, I really should have paid attention when Al was teaching me this stuff!" She said, loud enough for half the block to hear her clear annoyance. Allen was her elder brother, and was the one in the family in charge of teaching them German before the trip. "Okay, let's try this... umm... Ich weiß nicht sprechen Deutsch?"*2 The guard looked slightly confused before he replied.

"Wir sprechen Amestrian!" Anna was horribly confused at this, and her headache wasn't helping. _Amestrian? I've never heard of a country called Amestri-SHIT! AMESTRIS? _Her mind was spinning at this new information, finally realizing _where _exactly she was.

Anna was in the FullMetal Alchemist universe.

In Central.

Basically, her headache returned in full force. And this time it managed to make her faint.

"Fräulein!"

* * *

><p>Two men were conversing outside a hospital room, apparently discussing the occupant of the room. Said occupant was a girl about fifteen, either sleeping or unconcious, who had mysteriously appeared in the middle of the night. Witnesses had simply stated that "One second, she wasn't there, and the next, she was." One of the men, a Major, had enough to deal with already, what with Issac MacDougal on the loose there in Central.<p>

"Also, the MP's report hearing her shout in a strange language they couldn't understand." The smaller man told the large major. The stars and stripes on the shoulder of his uniform identified him as a Sergeant. "They said it sounded like Henlish."*3

"Strange. What's a child doing here without parent? Especially from a different country..." The huge man trailed off, deep in his own thoughts. He moved to the side when the doctor entered the room. "The only person I know that speaks Henlish is the Fullmetal Alchemist." Fullmetal's explination for knowing the language was that some of his father's notes were written in the language.

The Major snapped back to reality when the door opened again and the doctor stepped out.

"She's awake. And it seems she doesn't speak Amestrian. At least not very much," the doctor reported, "I think it's alright for you to go in." The major did as he was told and entered, ducking through the doorway. The girl surprised him immediately.

"_Alex Louis Armstrong_." She said, gray eyes both excited and apprehensive. The girl cocked her head to the side, as if examining him. _"Here to question me, I presume." _ He couldn't understand what she had said, and upon realizing that he couldn't understand her, she mimicked writing. Major Armstrong pulled out the small notebook he carried around for emergencies and scribbled a question on the first sheet.

_What's your name?_

_Anna McKraken._

_Where is your family?_

_Home._

They carried on like this for quite a while until he came to the question he had been burning to ask since they had started.

_How did you get here?_

_I don't know. Now if you would excuse me, I wish to sleep._

_P.S., If you know anyone that speaks my language, could you send them here? If i'm silent for any longer I think i'll explode. _

He laughed at that, and quickly scribbled his reply before leaving. He truly did wonder if she really knew how she had arrived but was unwilling to tell him.

_It just so happens I know someone, but you may have to wait awhile._

Anna was exhausted. After being questioned by Armstrong, when she had been planning to get some sleep, the doctors decided to do a check-up. Afterwards, when she had found the peace and quiet to sleep, she discovered her thought-riddled mind would not allow her to do so.

Well, would you be able to sleep after transfering between worlds? Especially one you thought was fictional?

Anna decided to doodle a bit. It always got her mind off things and helped her settle. Although often times she found herself drawing deep into the night, Anna generally got enough sleep.

Picking up the sheet Armstrong had left behind, she looked around for a pencil. When she remembered she didn't have one, she sighed, and flung the little sheet away. She always got frustrated without a pencil. Anna tried once more to fall asleep and only suceeded in doing so an hour later.

Anna woke up several hours later to discover a plate of food in front of her. As much as she hated hospital food, she resigned herself to feeding her growling stomach. The steaming plate of food was delicious, unlike other hospital foods that had been shoved down her gullet. By the time she had finished the doctor had stepped into the room and handed her a sheet of paper.

_You had a mild concussion. We believe it has faded, and you will be discharged. A one Mr. Maes Hughes has offered to let you stay at his home._

Anna smiled. She suspected that when she got downstairs she would be bombarded by photos of an adorable little girl with pigtails. It _is _Hughes, after all.

**And that's a wrap! Chapter one's done (finally) and I can let my sister have her computer back! Also I think she's going to turn her fic Returning Flame into a series of oneshots...**

**Oh wait, I have to do this...**

***= Get out of here! It's not safe for civilians!**

***2= I do not speak German?**

***3= The equivalent of English. I noticed in the anime the writing's English though... weird.**

**And yes, that Sergeant Armstrong was talking to was Brosch. Why? 'Cause I like Brosch.**

**Review or Armstrong will hug you!**


	2. Hello! Meet the Elrics

**Hello! I have finally gotten around to typing this chapter! Man I can't wait until the plot kicks in... Anyway, I forgot the disclaimer on Chappy 1 so here it is.**

**I no own.**

**...**

**That was anticlimatic.**

**Also, Big thanks to all my reviewers! You guys are awesome.**

**PPS, Italics switch from Amestrian to English alot, depending upon who's point of view we're following.**

In Between the Lines

Chapter 2

Hello! Meet the Elrics...

The thin nurse lead Anna down the hall to the main lobby, where she assumed Hughes was waiting. She spotted him immediately, his aura of gushing happiness impossible to mistake. He must of spotted her too, as he strutted up to her and shoved a picture of Elysia into her face. Anna tried desperately to brace herself for the coming storm.

"_Isn't Elysia the cutest thing you've ever seen? Here, you can have these copies, I've got a million of them!_" He shoved an album (which was full to the bursting,) into her arms. "_I bet you can't wait to meet her! My wife would love to meet you too!_" Another album. "_Photos of them together!_" A folder.

"_Mr. Hughes-" _The nurse tried to intervene.

"_Isn't she adorable?_" Photo to the face.

"_Lieutenant Colone-_" She tried again.

"_Gracia will love you!_" Gush...

"_LIEUTENANT COLONEL HUGHES! SHE DOESN'T SPEAK AMESTRIAN._" The nurse shouted. Anna shot her a grateful look, somewhat understanding what was said.

"_Oh. Right._" Hughes stopped gushing long enough to motion for her to follow him. He lead her outside where a small car was waiting to escort them to the Hughes' apartment.

"She really is cute." Anna half whispered. Hughes must of heard, as he gave her a confused look over his shoulder. "E-li-si-ah!" she said slowly, miming a heart with her hands. Hughes just smiled hugely.

The language barrier sure was annoying, but at least it made it easier to ignore Hughes. As much as she loved him, Anna was sure if she could understand him she would have gone insane by now. Thankfully he had fallen silent about halfway to his home.

The ride over to Hughes' apartment was rather boring, although it allowed her to take a good look at Central for the first time. It was rather bland, many of the white buildings the exact same. Anna was also surprised at how many people were on the street, or lack thereof. From what she had seen, there were at least 500,000 people in Central. Anna had expected the streets to be full of people wandering about the streets. She had been to Chicago, (shudder,) and knew how crowded it got. Hell, She'd been to Omaha, which had 300,000 people in it and was still more crowded.

_"We're here." _Hughes said as he pulled into the parking lot of his apartment building. Being the gracious man he was, Hughes pulled open the door of the car.

Anna stepped out cautiously, still clutching her toiletries. She still found it rather odd that the only thing that had been transported with her was that bag. She made a mental note to go through what had been shoved in there by her other family members later. Maybe some modern technology had been packed inside.

Hughes had led her up to the third floor of the apartment building, occasionally gushing about Elysia along the way. He stopped however when he realized that Anna was simply ignoring him.

"Here we are," He said motioning to the door at the end of the hall. "Gracia! Elysia! Papa's here!" As soon as he opened the door, an easily recognizable pigtailed girl tripped into the room.

"Papa! You're early!" Elysia stated, pointing an accusing finger at her father. "You said you have lotsa work to do!" Hughes chuckled wholeheartedly.

"And I'm afraid Papa's going to have to go back to work soon." He bent over suddenly and squished Elysia into a bear hug that strangely reminded Anna of her brother after not seeing her or Maria in a while. "Papa's going to miss his little darling!" His attention was quickly brought inside as Gracia made her appearance.

"Maes, why don't you introduce us?" She said, peeking a glance in Anna's direction.

"Oh, Right. Gracia, Elysia, this is Anna McKraken." He motioned to each of them in turn.

"Hi! I'm Elysia! That's Mama! And you've met Papa!" Elysia explained slowly, like she was talking to a kindergartener. Even though _she_ wasn't even old enough for that_._

"_Umm, Hi?_" Anna questioned as Elysia pulled her inside. She turned to Hughes, finding a rather amused expression on his face. Anna's temperament demanded that she send a glare his way. She was pleased to see his expression change to bemusement. He seemed to recover, and turned to Gracia again.

"Well, I've got to head back to work. See you for dinner, Sweethearts."

Hughes practically skipped down the hall to Colonel Mustang's temporary office. He just couldn't believe his luck. The one person he knew of that could speak that strange girl's-Anna was it?- language was in Central and needed a place to stay. All he could say was "Hooray for knowing a lot!*" If he hadn't known the FullMetal Alchemist was in town they might of had to wait a few _months _before anyone could teach her Amestrian.

Hughes burst into Roy's office in his usual manner, and feigned surprise at finding the Elric brothers there. He then proceeded to go on about his family and begin to explain exactly why they were staying at his apartment.

"-And the girl there needs to learn Amestrian too!" He finished. The blonde shrimp (Haha! Can't reach me now!) was confused until Hughes started again. "A girl showed up in Central a few days ago, and she doesn't speak Amestrian."

"What does a brat that doesn't know Amestrian have to do with me?" Ed snorted. His comment earned him a sharp jab in the ribs by a rather hard piece of brother, followed by a sharp reprimand by the dark haired Colonel still sitting at his desk.

"...Anyway, 'that brat's' name is Anna McKraken. We believe the language she speaks is Henlish," Hughes began re-explaining, "You two are the only people we know of that speak Henlish." Ed's face contorted as it dawned on him that he was going to have a tag-a-long on their journey for a while.

Hughes returned to his apartment for the second time that day, this time with a rather odd pair. The suit of armor towered over his small gold-and-red companion.

The door opened, and little Elysia found herself squished into her father's side. Hughes was gently rubbing his beard against her round cheek, little squeals issuing from her mouth.

"Ow! Papa, your beard hurts!" Elysia cried, only causing Hughes to rub harder.

Only after her father introduced Ed and Al did she finally notice them, bright eyes wide. Elysia (unbeknownst to her,) had managed to both win over the Elric brothers hearts and piss off the elder within five minutes.

"AL! LET ME GO, AL! LET ME- Ack!" The smaller (I love making fun of you.) Elric had been cut off in the middle of his angry plead by a large hardcover book hitting him hard in the forehead. He looked dazed for a minute, before looking around for a certain blonde mechanic and a wrench.

"_SHUT UP, MARIA!_(1)_ LEMME SLEEP!_" came a voice from the back of the apartment, its annoyance rivaling Ed's own. The source of the voice came stumbling into the room, wearing pajamas that were obviously too large for her. Anger flared in gray eyes, the effect completely thrown off by a dark gold bedhead.

"Maria?" The group questioned, while Ed added, "Is that Henlish?" Hughes recovered quickly from the surprise, while Ed was rather apprehensive of the girl. _I hope she's not another Winry..._

"Well. Ed, Al, this is Anna McKraken. Anna, Ed, Al." He motioned to the brothers for her. Ed was trying to hold in his laughter as it dawned on the girl that she had thrown a book at him. The furious look in her eyes had changed to one of guilt and embarrassment.

"_I'm sorry! I'm sorry, I thought you were my sister! I'm sorry..." _Anna was blushing furiously, hands waving apologetically in front of her. She seemed to realize she still didn't have the book she had thrown, and looked around cautiously. Apparently sometime during her flustering, Al had picked it up, as he now held it out to her.

"_Are you looking for this?" _Anna nodded, acknowledging that he could speak her language. "_Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone..." _He read the name printed on the spine. Ed visibly perked up at this, and Anna was sure if he was a dog, his tail would be going a mile a minute.

"_Stone? Like the Philosopher's Stone?_"

**Oh dear. Poor Anna. She should know better than to chick Harry Potter books at Ed and Al. Especially Ed.**

**I'M SOOOOO SORRY FOR NOT PUTTING THIS UP EARLIER! It's just that school started, Art club's back in full swing, and I have little free time. Gomen, gomen.**

**LOL It's an HP in FMA type-thing going on now. YYEEEEEEAAAAAHHHHH.**

***: NOOO ITS NOT HUGHES.**

**Anyway, 1) Maria is Anna's younger sister.**

**Also, as stated previously, REVIEW OR ARMSTRONG WILL HUG YOOOUUUU.**


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